Star-Lord #2 Review

When last we saw our hero (Star-Lord #1), he was being arrested after a night of commiserating and drinking with Old Man Logan turned into a massive bar brawl. Now he’s still stuck friendless on Earth, but with 100 hours of community service to fill. Is it good?

Star-Lord #2 (Marvel Comics)

After Matt Murdock fails to get Peter convicted thanks to Abigail Brand stepping in to save his butt (again), Peter is actually excited to start his community service, thinking a few hours keeping old people in a home company will be easy. Of course, a few problems crop up. His assigned “golden friend” was signed up by his son and has no interest in participating. And after Peter gets him out of the house, they run into a bank robbery in progress, which Quill can’t resist trying to stop. Of course things go really well!

Or not. But meeting Mr. Allen does get him a perk he didn’t expect – a job in a very unusual place.

Is It Good?

Zdarsky, Anka, and Wilson continue to bat 1.000 on this book, keeping things fun and still incredibly readable. One of the things I love about Zdarsky’s characterization of Quill is his irrepressible optimism; he may be on trial but yay for community service! Cranky old man as a charge? Healthy walks with fresh air! Getting yelled at by a teenage superhero with actual powers? Hey, it was still fun to fight crime! Bless his heart.

Speaking of teenage superheroes, I love that Zdarsky is embracing one of the best parts of writing a company book: getting to throw in cameos from other denizens of that universe. Why have a courtroom scene in a Marvel book if you aren’t going to use Daredevil? Bonus, giving us the epic glare off between Brand and Murdock.

Anka has a lot to play with in this issue and he does a fantastic job with all the different elements at play. I especially love the aforementioned glare off, his design of Mindblast, and how he draws action sequences. There’s a gorgeous flow to the way he draws movement — it’s really enjoyable to follow. Matt Wilson aids and abets with aplumb (sorry) with his dynamic, rich colors. Again, this sequence, how he plays the pink of Mindblast against the more primary colors of Ms. Marvel and Star-Lord:

Something else I’ve noticed in these two issues of Star-Lord is how Kris Anka plays with gaze. In a large number of comics, it’s all about the male gaze: main characters with teeny weeny costumes, random women in the background topless or in a provocative pose. Anka flips this in a cheeky way; in this issue on the first page we get Peter in the scraps of a ripped shirt on the cover of a newspaper, and a guy running by in the forefront of the panel with Peter and Mr. Allen walking with no shirt on. It’s tasteful and not overt, but it’s there and I think it’s intentional, and I really like it.

Oh, and shout out to Marguerite Sauvage’s gorgeous variant cover:

We’re only two issues in and this is the book I’m most looking forward to every month.